Basilica of the Holy House
Fr Luis has told me that he wants to visit Loreto in his life time. I wasn't at first enthusiastic about it as I had wanted to go to either Florence or Pompeii. Also, my back was aching yesterday and I wanted to rest. Also there were also some places in Rome that I want to visit. But anyway, I went along with Padre because I was also curious about Loreto.
The story of Loreto began in the 12th Century when the house which the Holy Family lived in Nazareth miraculously appeared in various towns along the Adriatic Coasts of Italy until at last it settled in Loreto. A small town up on a hill about 12 miles south of the city of Ancona
This church also figures in the history of Opus Dei. During the 1950s, a plot was made to dismember the Work. The plan was the separate the men's section and the women's section and cut off the founder. St Josemaria suffered a lot because of this. Having no human recourse, he sought the help of our Lady. On August 15, 1951, he made a pilgrimage to Loreto by car and celebrated mass inside the Holy House.
St Josemaria consecrated Opus Dei to the Most Sweet Heart of Mary.
Cor Mariam Dulcissimam, Iter Para Tutum
St Josemaria then wrote a letter to Pope Pius XII telling him about the plot. The Pope was surprised about the plot and put a stop to it. Another crisis was resolved through the powerful intercession of our Lady. One can also see the above invocation below the image of out Lady outside Villa Tevere, the headquarters of Opus Dei.
And so it was on Wednesday, October 9, we woke up early and headed to Termini. Surprisingly, I felt very well today and my back ache was gone! A sign that our Lady and St Josemaria wanted me to go to Loreto. We were going to Loreto via Ancona. We had breakfast at the McDonalds at Termini. It was a very pleasant train ride to Ancona. Ancona is a beach town at the Adriatic Sea. It took 2.5 hours to reach Ancona using the Euro Star. It was very sunny when we arrived at around 11:00am. We then took the bus straight to Loreto. Along the way, I got to view the Italian countryside which is really very nice! The bus ride took about an hour and we passed by a castle.
Loreto is situated to top of a hill along a typical Italian countryside. We can see the Adriatic from the courtyard at the side of the basilica. The Basilica of the Holy House is huge and magnificent!
When we arrive at Loreto we headed straight to the Basilica and Padre celebrated mass inside the Holy House!! It was no easy feat! Ordinarily mass was not allowed inside the Holy House without the permission of the Rector of the sanctuary. Fr Luis insisted and the sacristan went to ask another person who came saying that it was not allowed. But since Fr. Luis persisted a little more, he got his wish!
Our Lady of Loreto inside the Holy House
The Holy House is inside this marble structure.
We were told that since the friars were taking lunch at the moment, we could have a private mass immediately! Thanks to our Lady of Loreto! We expected to be alone in the small holy chapel but immediately the place was overflowing with people. The size of the chapel is small, perhaps around 3 X 4m, and we were almost 100 people.
We could recognize one group of Filipinos and another of Mexicans aside from those from other countries. The mass was celebrated in Spanish and at the end, Fr Luis gave thanks to our Lady in public in Spanish and in English making reference at the pilgrimage of our Founder because evidently most of the participants had come from Rome like us attending the canonization of St Josemaria.
Back in the sacristy, the sacristan asked Fr Luis to pray for his family and added that he too had a devotion to St Josemaria and he had gone to Rome to attend his canonization last Sunday.
Although the Holy house is encased in marble inside it is made of mud bricks. Also inside is an image of Our Lady of Loreto. Below the image of our Lady is the inscription "Hic Verbum Caro Factum Est." meaning "Here the Word was made Flesh." Below the altar (which you can access at the back is a huge rock the size of a table. I'm not sure what the significance of this stone is but it is treated like a relic.
After the mass, we went to a coffee shop and had our late lunch. I just had a sandwich. I was having ulcers during that time. I am still taking antibiotics which was a very unpleasant side effect.
We met Bernie Villegas with his mother on a wheel chair and other relatives. Evidently we all had the same inspiration later on we even met more people. I also met Fr Roque Reyes here. He was with Bernie's group. We were offered a bus ride back to Rome but since we already had a train ticket back we declined. We then did our mental prayer and rosary inside the basilica.
After the mass we strolled around the area of the basilica and the views of the countryside was spectacular! There was even a huge statue of Blessed Pope John XXIII.
After this, we took the bus back to Ancona. We went to the train station to check the schedule. Since there was still some time before the train leaves, we went on a quick sightseeing tour of Ancona. We took the bus and went downtown to visit the cathedral. It was a long walk up a steep hill and some stairs but it was worth it. The Cathedral of St Ciriaco is a very old church. It was very dark inside though because we were there very late in the day.
Fr Luis with the Loreto Countryside behind him.
St Ciriaco the Cathedral of Ancona
When we arrived at the train station we went for an early dinner of Pizza at a fast food shop across the street. Our train was supposed to leave for Rome at 7:00 pm. We waited at the track but 7:00 came and went and no train. To our shock we found out that were on the wrong track! We missed our train and that was the last train to Rome for the day. The next train would leave at around 2:00am.
With nothing else to do, we went to the waiting lounge and spent our time there. It was a very bad thing and at first I was upset that we missed the train. Padre told me to offer up this event as a sacrifice, and to spend my time reading the books that came in the canonization kit. In fact, I finished reading the book on the biography of St Josemaria in one sitting.
It was also very cold outside! Inside the waiting lounge there were two drunk guys there. A trip to the restroom cost about 1 EURO! To make matters worse, there were 2 drunks inside the lounge. They even broke their wine bottles. I tried to sleep but couldn't. I just walked up and down the tracks of the train station to pass the time.